Elixir
by lener
Summary: Chloe Sullivan is being framed for murders she never committed, and is convinced someone is out to get her. The discovery of a portal that takes Clark, Chloe and Pete back into time makes them wonder if the events could be related...
1. Chapter One

**Elixir**

_by Lener_

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville. 

**Chapter One**

**                   Clark Kent watched as a slim figure made her way down the hallways of Smallville High School towards a tall blonde jock. Both of them embraced, the girl kissing the boy on the cheek, and then walked off hand in hand out the doors of the school. **

                "Hey Clark, what's up?" Clark jumped and whirled around to find his best friend (one of them) Chloe Sullivan standing behind him. 

                "Chloe!" Clark smiled, then pretended to look suspicious, "how long have you been spying on me?" 

                An innocent look took over Chloe's face, and she looked up at Clark, thoroughly confused. "Spying? Who's been spying? I _just sneaked up on you!" _

                Clark looked down at the pretty blond, and would have believed her had he not known her since they were children. Chloe Sullivan was the editor for the Smallville High School newspaper; she was a reporter- a ruthless one. 

                "Haha," Clark laughed dryly. 

                "Fine, fine. I watched you long enough to watch you watch Lana," Chloe grinned at her sentence. Clark knew she'd purposely said it like that. He grinned again- Chloe always had the ability to make people cheerful. But his grin only lasted for about 2 seconds when he remembered what he had seen. Lana Lang, the most beautiful girl in Smallville High (or so, he thought) had just walked off with her boyfriend, the quarterback of the school's football team, and the guy Clark wished to be.

                "Hey… what's wrong?" Chloe looked up at him, concern etched over her face. 

                "Oh, nothing…" Clark shrugged, and fell into a step beside his friend as she began walking towards the doors of Smallville High. Chloe took a few steps forward, then turned around to face Clark so that he was walking towards her, and she walking backwards. Clark knew that he was going to face a Chloe interrogation when she walked like that. 

                "Kent, that look on your face tells me something is absolutely wrong, and I'm going to deduce that it's seeing Lana Lang walk off with her boyfriend Whitney Fordman. So, am I right or wrong?" she rattled off. 

                Clark sighed. He could never keep something from Chloe. Sooner or later her reporter instincts would be taken out like an eager dog on leash, sniffing around for clues and whatnot, and finally coming up with the correct answer. "You don't know how right you are," he told her. 

                "I've got just the solution for you," Chloe said, her eyes shining bright. Clark loved that confident look she always had, as if she knew she was never wrong. 

                "Oh, what's that?" he asked, playing along. They were reaching the steps of the entrance to Smallville High, and Clark kept a look out on Chloe, who was still walking backwards, in case she lost her footing and fell. 

                "It's…" Chloe turned back the right way to find the proper footing, then made her way down the steps, "the Fortress of Solitude… _and a tub of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice-cream. How's that for a special Sullivan Remedy?" She looked up at Clark, her eyes hopeful._

                And without hesitation, he grinned, "Sure."

*

                _So here am I, sitting in __Clark__'s Fortress of Solitude with a tub of my (and __Clark__'s) favourite ice-cream in my lap watching the sunset with __Clark__. Oh, this isn't what you think. My fantasy hasn't come true yet, but of course, I can always imagine._

_                Chloe dug a metal spoon into her ice-cream and bit into the cold, sweet substance. It tasted good, and as she looked over at Clark's tub, she could see that he was almost finished. She, on the other hand, still had almost half the tub left. __Well, I guess I've just been enjoying the scenery more than the food. And by scenery I don't mean the green things. Chloe thought playfully to herself._

                Clark had moved his telescope (pointed at the sky, this time) to the side to that both of them could sit at the window of his loft and dangle their legs down the edge, in the air. The sun was setting now, leaving the honey coloured sky with souvenirs- swirls of dusky rose pink and soft lavender. 

                "The sunset is beautiful…" Clark said, setting his empty tub of ice-cream behind him on the loft floor. He kept his metal spoon in his hand, tracing the arcs of colour that ran like dye across the sky. Then he pointed to a patch of greenery down below. "Look, Chloe! Look at that!" he exclaimed, and Chloe duly looked.

                "I don't see anything…" she muttered, gazing hard.

                "Oh, well, I must have mistaken…" Clark shrugged, and Chloe gave him a curious stare. She bent down to scoop some more ice-cream, only to find a large hole in the brown ice-cream in her tub. She looked over at Clark, who had a silly grin on his face.

                Chloe dumped her tub and the metal spoon (which she'd stuck into the ice-cream) down on the loft floor, and turned to face Clark. "You know," she said, "that trick could've worked if I hadn't been so smart and if you didn't have chocolate ice-cream all over your mouth!" And with that she launched a full tickle attack on her best friend, leaving him laughing uncontrollably. 

                Finally she let him off, and he clambered unsteadily to his feet. Chloe pulled herself away from the open window of the loft, and got to her feet, facing Clark. "So, feel better now?" she asked, smiling. It was great to see Clark happy and not brooding all over Lana. _If I were __Clark__'s girlfriend, I'd make him happy all the time. She thought, but erased the thought from her mind. That was just not possible. Clark had eyes only for… __Lana. Sigh. _

                "I'm all better now. Thanks to the special Sullivan Remedy!" Clark pasted a fake grin on his face, and Chloe punched him on the arm. He doubled over, pain contorting his features, and Chloe suddenly regretted what she'd done. Had she _really hurt him this time? It couldn't be… she had not punched him __that hard!_

                "Clark! Clark, are you okay?" she sprang forward, concerned, placing a hand on his back. Then suddenly he was standing upright, and grinning, and he began to tickle her. Hard.

                Chloe laughed. This was the most fun she'd ever had in _years._

_Clark__ is the best __best friend ever!_

                The sky was beginning to turn dark by the time Chloe reached home. Lucky for her she remembered that the next day was a Saturday, and that there had not been very much homework set for them that day. She reached for the door knob. Her father would be home by now, and cooking dinner. She'd probably have to explain where she had went, but she was sure he would understand. Gabe Sullivan was the best father in the world. Well, when he wasn't cracking his so-called 'witty' jokes.

                Chloe remembered the time when she had gone on a class trip to LuthorCorp Plant and her father had been in charge of the tour around the plant. She'd spent the first part hiding behind Clark and 'dying' whenever her father cracked one of his lame jokes.

                Smiling to herself, Chloe pushed open the door, only to find Gabe Sullivan sitting in the middle of the living room floor, the whole house a mess.

                "Dad!" Chloe exclaimed, rushing to her father, "what happened here?" She let out a huge breath, gazing at the ransacked house. The cutlery cupboard, drawers and everything had been turned inside out, the curtains shredded and all the upholstery everywhere. In the kitchen she could see broken mugs and plates, bowls and shattered porcelain vases.

                "When I came back everything was like this," Gabe said, holding up a framed picture of him and his daughter. The glass over the picture had cracked right in the middle of the picture of them hugging each other.

                "Oh, daddy…" Chloe wrapped her arms around her father and gave him a hug, which he returned.

**Author's Note: Oh… who ransacked the Sullivan home? What's going on? Find out in later chapters! As you can see, this is a whole different Smallville fic from my previous one, that means I have to get Clark and Chloe together _again! *rubs hands gleefully* This is going to be fun!   _**


	2. Chapter Two

**Elixir**

_by Lener_

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville. 

**Hey all readers!!!!! Sorry for the LONG wait! It's just that my computer's internet access went KABOOK and I could not upload any chapters! Well, I hope you'll understand *sighs and sheaks head* computers… tsk tsk… Anyway, here's chapter 2! And I'm glad that you liked Kaleidoscope! I hope you'll love Elixir!**

**Chapter Two**

**                   "So you say your house got ransacked? Like someone was looking for something?" Pete Ross, Chloe's other best friend clarified with her as she, Clark and Pete were walking to school on Monday. The weekend had passed by, and Chloe had spent her time cleaning up the mess with her father. Clark and Pete also stopped by to help, and then Clark had chased all of them out of the house to buy new kitchenware and whatever had been broken.**

                When they'd came back, everything was in its rightful place, and Clark was sitting in front of the television _relaxing. Chloe still had not found a way to thank him probably for what he'd done- she was grateful to Clark for having lifted such a heavy burden off her father's back. _

                "Yea, I _still don't know why, though," Chloe shrugged, pressing her books closer to her chest, "I mean, we Sullivans don't have many enemies in Smallville. Unless it __could be some meteor freak's attempts to try to ask Chloe Sullivan out on a date." _

                Pete rolled his eyes, and Clark laughed. 

                "It's nice to see you still have your humour, Chlo," Clark said, adjusting the straps of his red backpack. 

                "I think I'll keep it, no matter what," Chloe winked.

                "All right, so what are we going to do? You could be in danger here," Pete interrupted, looking at Chloe seriously. She gave a sigh and shook her head, "You tell me."

                "Maybe we should call the Kent and Ross 24-hour bodyguard and surveillance company," Clark suggested, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "that way Clark Kent and Pete Ross can protect you all round the clock, everywhere you go." Catching Chloe's disgusted look, Clark quickly added, "Not _everywhere, though. But just, __most places."_

                Chloe laughed. "Definitely the bodyguards," she joked.

                _Clark__Kent__ following me around everywhere I go?_

_                Definitely yum. _

*

                The yellow school bus pulled up in front of them just as they reached the bus stop, and Clark watched as Pete stepped up, then Chloe and finally himself. He followed his two best friends right up the aisle and to the back of the bus, where Pete slid in to the window seat. Chloe settled down in the middle seat and Clark on her left. It was always in this formation, everywhere they went. 

                Clark glanced at Chloe and admired how she was so cool and calm in the face of a possible threat to her family. Her house had been ransacked pretty badly, but Clark had managed to clean it at super-speed after he had chased Mr. Sullivan, Chloe and Pete out of the house. 

                But who would want to hurt the Sullivans so bad?

                No one in Smallville really hated them that much. 

                Clark was lost in thought on the bus ride all the way to Smallville High. 

                "Clark? Unless you're thinking of skipping school, you really should move it so you can at least let me and Pete through," Chloe's cynical voice finally broke through his thoughts. Startled, Clark realized that the three of them were the only ones who had not gotten off the bus, and the driver was looking at them with an annoyed expression on his face. 

                Clark jumped to his feet and bounded down the aisle, followed closely by his friends. Once Pete's foot was off the bus and on Smallville High grounds, the bus veered off and away from the school building in a cloud of thick smoke.

                "Okay, let's go," Chloe said, turning her head away from the bus. Clark and Pete fell into a step beside her as they made their way into the school grounds. 

                The minute Clark stepped in, his eyes automatically searched for the pretty brunette called Lana Lang. There she was, laughing with a bunch of other cheerleader friends, with Whitney Fordman's left arm swung protectively around her shoulder. Clark sighed. Lana could not be separated from Whitney these days- it was as if they were both Siamese twins. 

                "Thinking about Lana?" Chloe voiced suddenly, staring at Clark knowingly.

                "What?" Clark said, pretending not to know what she was talking about. 

                "I SAID," Chloe continued, in a voice about ten times louder than the one she'd just used, "THINKING A-"

                "Shh!" Clark pressed a hand over her mouth in panic, and looked over at Lana to see if she'd heard what Chloe had almost shouted out. Lana was still talking to her friends, but Whitney was staring daggers at Clark, and Clark thought that if looks could kill, he'd probably drop dead in front of his friends. 

                "Come on, let's go," he muttered, dragging Chloe along with him with his hand still over her mouth. Pete followed them, chuckling silently. 

*

                _I love __that look Whitney gave __Clark__. Mental Note: Make Whitney give __Clark__ that look more often so __Clark__ will back off Lana._

_                Chloe smiled gleefully to herself, settled down in her chair in English class. Clark was next to her, diligently copying notes. Pete was behind her, occasionally tapping the legs of her chair as he listened to their teacher drone on and on. Chloe twirled her pen in her hand and scribbled a few important words in her textbook, then glanced up and let her mind wander freely._

                She thought about Clark and wondered why such a gorgeous, perfect specimen of a human being could have such a major flaw. He was completely infatuated with Lana Lang… of course Chloe knew that his reaction was typical. Which boy could not help drooling at Lana whenever she walked past? Perhaps Pete, but he was a different story. 

                Sighing, Chloe tuned her mind back to what her English teacher was saying. She glanced over at Clark's textbook, and realized that she was about 3 pages behind. She flipped the pages of her book in a hurry, eliciting an annoyed look from her teacher, but Chloe didn't care. 

*

                Clark was bored. Oh, he was trying not to show it, but he was definitely bored with this English class. Occasionally he would pause to scribble something down in his textbook, but if his English teacher took a look in it, she would probably faint, because nothing of what she'd said had been recorded down by Clark. Instead, he was contemplating his infatuation for a certain Lana Lang. 

                Since the beginning of time (or as far as Clark could remember anyway), he had always had this… okay, he was going to use a 'Chloe Word' now… _weird feeling when he was around Lana. His knees felt weak and his stomach queasy. Up till now Clark had always thought that Lana had this effect on him, or that he was in love. But now he was beginning to realize it was the green necklace that she'd always worn around her neck. It was a bit of the meteor rock that had killed her parents in the meteor shower in Smallville in 1989. _

                So, Clark had deduced without much difficulty, the nauseating feeling that he had felt whenever Lana was around was only due to the meteor rock necklace that she wore. So now that she did not wear it most of the time, he was able to spend more time around the girl of his dreams. Only he was beginning to think that Lana was not the girl of his dreams anymore. Sure, she _was pretty but there was nothing else that attracted her to him anymore. _

                Clark ran a hand through his dark brown hair, sighing quietly, frustrated. Lately another name had been popping up in his mind… 

                "Chloe Sullivan."

                Clark's head shot up as the classroom door burst open, revealing two stocky Smallville policemen standing in the doorway. They marched up to his surprised English teacher, who bolted out of her seat to greet them, highly flustered. All the students stopped their work, and Clark turned to Chloe, who was looking shocked. He watched as her face drained of all colour.

                She was out of her seat in a second. "Is it my father? Gabe Sullivan?" she asked the police, almost stumbling on a stray backpack.

                "We are looking for a Ms. Chloe Sullivan, are you her?" the first policeman, who had a bush red moustache, asked Chloe. Clark watched as she nodded, too afraid to speak. This was the first time he'd seen her like that- was something wrong? In a second, both Pete and him were out of their seats too, rushing towards their best friend.

                "Yes, she's Chloe Sullivan. What's going on, officer?" Clark asked, aware that his voice was suddenly very loud in the classroom. He was also aware of all the stares from various students. He placed a hand instinctively on Chloe's shoulder, as if not willing her to leave.

                "Please come with us, Ms. Sullivan. You are wanted for murder," the second policeman, with curly blonde hair stepped forward and gripped Chloe's wrists while she stood there, shocked.

                "How…" Pete gasped.

                "A Mr. Martin Spout was found dead in his grocery store on the night of 16 August 2001 at 7:13pm. Ms. Sullivan's fingerprints were found at the scene of the crime," the first policeman said. 

                Clark watched in amazement as they led his best friend out of the classroom, her wrists in hand cuffs. 

**Author's Note: *gasp* Now WHY is Chloe wanted for murder? Surely our wonderful intrepid reporter couldn't have killed someone?? So what is going on? Was it shape shifting? A case of mistaken identity? Find out in later chapters! For now, do review and tell me what you think, and my replies are below! **

**Pinellas62- Hey! Thanks for reviewing. Why didn't you not want to read Kaleidoscope?**

**Suz- Yo! Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked the first chap! Lol… what was so nice about the Clark/Chloe scene in the loft? I thought it was pretty dumb… Haha… but for me it'll be natural to have Whitney around, that little pest.**

**…- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! So, how'd you find chap 2?**

**mmac80- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! Well, I'm glad you think that Kaleidoscope was amazing. I must remain humble and say: nah. Hope you like this chapter!**

**Sylphide- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! Lol! I agree that it'll be fun to write Chlark all over again! And I think it'll be really nice to read Chlark over again! Hehe… I write well? Nah…**

**Anonymous- Hey! I can't thank you properly since you never left a nick or a name on your review. Oh well, haha I can't seem to figure out what was really nice about the ice-cream scene but if you guys say so… *smiles***

**(Furi15)- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! And I'm glad you loved Kaleidoscope!**

**HugePedlar- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! Okay… third time I've heard good stuff about the ice-cream scene. But I'm glad everyone liked that! Hey… don't feel embarrassed about plugging, I'll make an effort to read your story when I'm free! And I'll review! **

**Starburst- Yo! Thanks for the review! Hope you liked this chapter!!**

**Calty- YO! Thanks for reviewing! Hehe… tickle fight! It's just like Chloe… oh well, I hope to find lotsa funny things in your review!! Haha… Chloe can't be parted from her laptop… !! Hope you like this chapter!!   **


	3. Chapter Three

**Elixir**

_by Lener_

__

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville. 

**Chapter Three**

****

**"We _have to follow her! I know she didn't murder the guy!" Pete shouted, trying to push past Mrs. Fieldsman to get at the policemen, who were shoving Chloe out the door. _**

"No, boys. I'm afraid you'll have to stay where you are," Mrs. Fieldsman said, trying to push Pete and Clark back. However, they could tell she was feeling a little scared and apprehensive. 

"Mrs. Fieldsman, _please. We know Chloe Sullivan very well, she's our best friend, and if there's anything she did, we'll know about it right away. I know that Chloe didn't murder anyone, so please just let us give the policemen an alibi," _Clark urged his teacher. Perhaps it was his use of model English words like 'alibi' or his deep, sincere eyes (the Kent Charm was on full blast), but Mrs. Fieldsman gave a defeated sigh and let both of them true.

"Thank you, Mrs. Fieldsman!" Pete called as they dashed out of the classroom and down the corridor, after the two policemen and their best friend.

*

"I'm innocent, I tell you! I didn't murder anyone!" Chloe knew it was no use struggling against the cold metal that bound her wrists together, but at least she could try to convince the policemen that she was innocent. As far as it was concerned, she had not killed anybody, unless it was in her imagination. 

"No use trying to talk your way out of this, Miss. It was clearly proven that your fingerprints were at the scene of the crime, and that proves that you were somehow involved in the murder. Let me remind you that yours were the only prints around," the policeman with the red hair said sternly to her as his partner pulled open the car door to the police vehicle.

"What? This is crazy! I don't even know who he is! But my fingerprints weren't on the corpse, where they? So how could I be the murderer? How did this guy die anyway?" Chloe protested as the blonde shoved her head first into the backseat of the vehicle.

Both policemen looked uncomfortable now that she'd mentioned the flaw in their observation.

"I tell you, I'm _not a murderer," Chloe insisted as the policemen slid in the front seats of the car, and the red-haired started the engine._

"We'll see," the blonde said gruffly.

"We've got to take you to the station first, then questions later. For now, you'd better use your time to think of a good enough alibi," the red-haired said as he pulled out of the SmallvilleHigh School parking lot and headed towards the Smallville Police Station. 

Chloe flopped back down against the seat, her head hitting the leather interior of the car.

Great.

She was in deep trouble, and nothing could get her out of it. 

*

"We don't have a car! How are we going to get to her in time?" Pete shouted as they both charged into the car park, just as the police car zoomed off.

Clark had never seen Pete this freaked out. Of course, he was anxious too, and shocked. How could the police accuse Chloe of doing such a thing? He knew his best friend very well, and she would never, _ever murder anyone._

"We won't be able to make it if we walk… by the time we get there they'll probably be putting her into jail or…" Pete broke off when a sleek golden Lamborghini Diablo 6.0 pulled up into the driveway of Smallville High.

"Whoa!" Pete exclaimed, jumping back onto the pavement just as the wheels of the vehicle screeched to a stop right where his feet had been.

"It can only be Lex…" Clark said as the tinted windows were wound down. 

"Hello there, Clark Kent and friend," a bald head poked out into the morning air, and billionaire Lionel Luthor's son Lex smiled up suavely at them.

"Hey Lex! Listen, are in a hurry? Because we need to get to-"

"Smallville Police Station. Don't look so surprised, Clark, I know everything that's going on. I'm not the General Manager of LuthorCorp Plant for nothing, you know," Lex added when he saw Clark's stunned face. 

Just then, Pete gave Clark a little shove, jerking him back to his senses. "Oh, err, Lex, this is Pete Ross," Clark said hurriedly.

"Hop in," Lex gave them a wink, and his tinted window came up just as the doors to his car automatically opened up. Clark and Pete had barely enough time to fling themselves into the small backseat before Lex fired off, squealing tyres making a racket.

"How did you know what was going on?" Pete asked.

"Mr. Martin Spout, the deceased, works for LuthorCorp Plant. He didn't turn up today, and I saw and heard the policemen questioning Gabe Sullivan on the whereabouts of his daughter. I'd heard the name Chloe Sullivan before, so I deduced she studied in Smallville and when I drove there, I found you and Clark outside," Lex explained calmly. 

"So, Lex, whose side are you on? Ours or the Smallville Police?" Clark decided to ask out of curiosity. At the rate Lex was speeding down the streets of Smallville, he would barely have enough time to get any information out if his friend before they pulled up at the station. If Lex knew anything that might help Chloe, Clark knew he'd better get it out of the bald guy, and soon.

"The Smallville Police, of course. In fact, I'm going to drop by Hob's Pond, attach a ball and chain to both your ankles and deposit you two in the pond so that I can get rid of the prime witnesses that might help Ms. Chloe Sullivan," Lex Luthor said, straight-faced. He glanced in the mirror, caught Clark's alarmed expression and Pete's grinning face, then smiled. "I'm _kidding, _Clark. You've _got to lighten up," he grinned._

Pete cackled, and Clark shot him a glare that shut him up quick.

"Gee, Lex, that really helped me to lighten up," Clark said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"I just meant that… you were a bunch of nerves, okay? So, what's the deal? You like this Ms. Sullivan or something?" Lex remarked casually, still looking at Clark through the mirror. Clark could see a glimmer of interest in his grey eyes.

"Chloe Sullivan is my best friend, Lex," Clark warned his friend.

"Besides, Clark's already infatuated with Lana, how could he even have the time to see what's been under his nose for over two years now?" Pete piped up, and suddenly Clark felt uneasy. Was his other best friend trying to imply something?

_Wait, come to think of it- had I sounded like I wanted Chloe and I to be more than best friends?_

_Uh oh. _

__

*

Chloe sat on the plastic chair in an empty room in the Smallville Police Station with her head in her hands, wondering she- how _anyone was going to get her out of this mess. _

_I know I didn't kill anybody, but I can't remember what I was doing on…_

_Suddenly, the sound of the door opening brought her back to reality, and she glanced up to see the two policemen who had brought her to the station. Behind them were two other people, one of them was another policeman, most probably their superior, and the other person was Gabe Sullivan, her father._

"Dad!" Chloe jumped out of her seat, and when she reached her father, he engulfed her in a strong hug. She was grateful that none of the policemen stopped them from embracing. _At least they know a Father-Daughter moment when they see it. Chloe thought to herself. Finally she pulled away from her father and said, "I never killed anyone."_

"I know," Gabe looked into her eyes and nodded. He turned to the third policeman, who had dark brown hair and said, "Officer, what is the meaning of this?"

"I'm Officer Ken Bard, and you're daughter's fingerprints were found at the scene of a crime that took place on the 16 of August 2001, at about 7:13pm in the evening. The victim's name was a Mr. Martin Spout, who was found dead in his living room," the officer explained to a shocked Mr. Sullivan.

"Martin… Martin Spout?" Gabe Sullivan gasped.

"Yes. Do you know the victim?" Officer Bard said with a curt nod.

"He works under me… in LuthorCorp Plant…" came the reply.

Chloe quickly intervened, "I can't explain what my fingerprints were doing at the scene of the crime, Officer, but I can assure I was nowhere near the victim's house. I don't even know where it is. I _do have an alibi; I just can't recall it just now. I think I…"_

"Was at the Kent Farm Estate, Hickory Lane, Smallville, Kansas with her best friend Clark Kent at his loft in the barn of his house, helping him with personal issues," a clear voice rang out as the door opened and three people walked into the room. 

Chloe, the two policemen, Gabe Sullivan and Officer Bard all turned around to face Clark Kent, Pete Ross and Lex Luthor.

**Author's Note: That's it for the 3rd chapter! I hoped you liked this. It was a little eventful, I must say, but anyway I'm glad that Chloe isn't a murderer (you know I wouldn't have made her one anyway). So what's going on? Is someone trying to frame her? DO review and you'll find out!**

****

**Suz- Hey! Yes well there's not a lot of Whitney and Lana in this story (I hope) I haven't actually finished it yet… usually I write most of the chapters and then upload them one by one with a few days in between each chapter. But I've only written up till Chapter 6 for Elixir, that's why I'm running late! Oh well, my computer's okay now! Thanks!**

****

**Pinellas62- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! Yes… the meat is usually after the first chapter, of course. Oh… well I don't know much about relationship tension… I guess I just try to write what I hope will happen in the show eventually!**

****

**HugePedlar- Hey! Thanks for the review. Yes, I get it about the cop part... and I agree that a cop should be discreet… haha… maybe I was feeling a little dramatic that day. I thought all the Smallville episodes are set like, in near present day time? Because of those meteors hit Smallville in 1989, and Clark is like 12 or 13 years older from that day, that would make the year 2001 or**

**2002, right? Uh huh!**

****

**…- Oh… Chloe and Lana being friends? NEVER!!!!!!!!! Lol… just kidding. Maybe? I'll try and see what works for us Smallville fans!**

****

**jd burns- Yes, our favourite teen of steel will surely help Chloe! Argh! The ice-cream part????!!!!**

****

**Sylphide- Haha! Yea, I wanna write more Chlarky scenes… but I have to focus on the plot too… sigh that's not nice but I don't write whole fics full of fluff about Clark and Chloe. I would much prefer to have a plot including a meteor freak, don't you agree?**

****

**Starburst- Yes Ma'am! A dose of action coming right up! I think you'll like the next few chapters if you want action. But in the later chapters there's more action!**

****

**SpolierSnarky- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story!**

****

**Calty- Yes, that reverse psychology could work as well! But anyway we know that whatever happens (even if Lana propels herself into ****Clark****'s arms), ****Clark**** will never EVER want her ever again, right? Lol! Hahaha!!!! Yea! Some meteor freak should chop Lana up into little itty bitty pieces and stuff her in a lead box then dump the box into a pond of gooey liquid meteor rocks! Ew. How sick I am.**

****

**andi- Hey! Thanks for the review! I'm glad you are intrigued. **

__

****

****


	4. Chapter Four

**Elixir**

_by Lener_

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville. 

**Chapter Four**

**                   "Clark? Pete… Lex Luthor?" both Chloe and Gabe Sullivan exclaimed in unison. The policemen all gaped at Lex, and Clark smiled inwardly. The 21-year-old businessman radiated so much power that it looked as though everyone in the room was capable of dropping to their knees and bowing to him. **

                "Ms. Chloe Sullivan is not the murderer, Officer," Lex said smoothly, reaching out to take a plastic chair. He settled himself down on it like he was a king, and everyone just stared.

                "B… b… but… her prints… they were…" Officer Ken Bard stuttered.

                "I was told by inspectors that Ms. Sullivan's prints were not found on the corpse itself. Interesting how Mr. Martin Spout died too, don't you think, Officer? He was never touched- not poisoned, shot, stabbed, strangled or hurt in any way. Mr. Spout's health record showed that he had a clear medical history. In fact, apart from the fact that he was dead, he was actually in perfect health. In other words, you have no proof that Ms. Sullivan here actually murdered Mr. Spout, even though you did find her prints there in the scene of the crime. I'm afraid you cannot hold her against her will and, as they always say, innocent until proven guilty," Lex stopped after his lengthy speech, and smiled at the officer like this was all a game.

                Clark watched Chloe's wide-eyed expression as she stared in shock and admiration at Lex Luthor. He felt a twinge deep inside his heart, and Clark realized with horror that he'd actually felt jealous. _Jealous? Of what? Clark thought to himself. Of the fact that his best friend had hardly acknowledged his presence in the room. He was, after all, her best friend too. Yes, that was it._

                Clark turned to look at the Officer. 'Ken Bard', his shiny golden name tag read. Right now Ken Bard looked so stupefied that he looked as though he were about to faint any second. 

                There was silence, finally broken by the officer.

                "Well, err… yes, you have a point, Mr. Luthor. B… But… you see, my Head will need to see me bring in some… erm… _proof that we found… uh…" he tucked a finger into his collar and pulled nervously. The words stumbled out from his lips, and they could hardly make out what he was trying to say. _

                "You will tell your Superior exactly what I said in this room a few seconds ago, and you will also tell him that Lex Luthor stopped by, courtesy of this whole mess you made," Lex got up from his chair and placed it back at the wooden table. Then he turned to Chloe, "Come on now, Ms. Sullivan. I'm sure you don't want to stay in here all day." 

                Grinning, Chloe got out of her seat, and her father walked to her side. Then, smiling formally to the policemen, Lex opened the door and let all of them file out, followed by himself.

                "I'll just settle… err… a few things," Gabe said as they reached the glass doors of the Smallville Police Station.

                "If you insist, Mr. Sullivan. But I assure you, everything's been taken care of. I am a man of my word," Lex said. Gabe nodded, shook Lex's hand and turned back as the four of them trooped out of the Smallville Police Station.

*

                "That was fabulous!" Chloe gushed as she threw her arms around Pete first, engulfing him in a great hug. She'd never thought she would see her best friend again. After she pulled away from the hug, she stepped towards Clark, but was uncertain whether she should hug him. Before she could think, however, he drew his arms around her and hugged her tightly. _Sigh… I could stay in this embrace forever… Chloe thought dreamily, but broke apart when Lex's voice rang out._

                "Don't I get a hug too?" he teased, looking a little awkward in his formal grey business suit and maroon tie.

                "I'm sorry, Mr. Luthor, but it's strictly handshakes for people whom I've never met but have heard so much about. Although I'd bend the rules a little and give you a really warm handshake because you actually saved my life," Chloe grinned, and Lex extended a pale hand. She took it and shook it. 

                "So, was everything you said in there true?" Chloe decided to ask, her reporter instincts taking over. The case of this Mr. Spout person seemed interesting and definitely weird- did it possibly have something to do with the meteor rocks?

                "Of course it was all fact, Ms. Sullivan. Lex Luthor never tells lies. My father might have a knack for that, but I prefer to stick to the unadulterated truth," Lex said, the slightest hint of contempt for his father in his voice. 

                "Please, call me Chloe. So, do you have any idea how my fingerprints ended up in his living room?" Chloe probed further. 

                "Completely no clue, but if I get any information that might help enlighten you, I'll definitely pass it on to you. Well, I'd like to stay and chat but I've got a whole plant to run so I guess I'll be seeing you. Later, Clark, Pete, Chloe," Lex gave them all nods, then turned around and slipped into his golden car. 

                Chloe's father came up just as Lex reversed out of the parking lot and zoomed off.

                "Nice man, Mr. Luthor," he said, then turned to Chloe, "now, I've got to get back to the plant. Can you promise me you'll be okay and not get into any more trouble?"

                "Dad!" Chloe protested, but Pete interrupted her. "Mr. Sullivan, Clark and I could stay with her in case she does," he said seriously, and Chloe's father nodded. "Great. I'm glad that I can trust you both. Now, I don't think it'll be wise for you to head back to the school until I've cleared up everything with the principal so I guess for now you three should head back to the house or something. I have to rush for work now."

                Chloe gave her cheek to her father to kiss, then he climbed into his car and drove off.

                Chloe watched as her father's car disappeared into the distance, then turned to Clark, who had not spoken much at all.

                "Clark, is everything okay or did someone permanently chopped off your tongue?" she asked curiously.

                "I can still speak, Chloe. It's just that Lex had been doing enough of the talking for now," was the answer. _Is it my imagination or was that jealousy in Clark's voice?_

*

                _Is it my imagination or was that jealousy in my voice?_

_                Clark cleared his throat as he felt his face burn up. "Um… I mean…" he tried to rephrase what he had just said, but Chloe shook her head and smiled. Pete was laughing too hard to even say anything._

                "So, what should we do now?" Pete finally asked when he had finished making Clark feel like an idiot.

                "Well, we could sneak back to school and go to the Torch office. There might be some information on what happened on the news website, do you think?" Chloe asked, tapping her finger on her temple. It was the usual gesture she made whenever she was deep in thought.

                "Chloe, your father said not to go back to school," Clark warned her. 

                "First time you've heard a parent say that, huh?" Pete grinned.

                 "Or, we could head down to the scene of the crime. No doubt there'll be some police there we can question. I'd like to know why…" Chloe continued, but not before Pete cut her off.

                "I've got a better idea. Why don't we hang out at Clark's place?" he said, winking at Clark. At once Clark knew what Pete was driving at. It would be crazy for Chloe to get into more trouble than she'd already been in. Besides, if she'd waltzed into the place where her prints had been found asking questions about the murder, the police would probably have a fit.

                "Yes, my place it is. We'll walk, it's only 5 minutes from here," Clark nodded, and with that they pulled an indignant Chloe Sullivan off with them to the Kent Farm Estate.

                Finally after about 10 minutes (5 to walk and 5 to explain to his parents what they were doing back so soon from school), Clark, Chloe and Pete were settled in Clark's Fortress of Solitude, deep in conversation about the murder.

                "I still don't get it. What were my prints doing there?" Chloe asked. She was stretched out on the soft old couch, Pete was settled comfortably on a straw bale and Clark was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall of the loft.

                "Maybe someone was trying to frame you, Chloe. You never know," Pete suggested.

                "But how could they have gotten my prints?" Chloe insisted.

                "These days with such modern technology it's easy to do almost the impossible, Chloe. By touching a cup or a bottle, you'd already have transferred your prints to the surface. All somebody had to do was to retrieve that cup and extract the prints from there," Clark said cleverly.

                "Like in those spy movies?" Chloe asked dubiously. She fingered her light hair and frowned hard. "Sounds kinda… James Bond to me," she added.

                "Well, it's easy enough for someone to do. And I do believe that some people actually have a reason to be angry with you, Chloe," Pete added.

                "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Chloe was indignant.

                "It wasn't meant in a bad way. I mean, take the Torch for example, or your research in the meteors, Chlo. Who knows, you might be just a step away from exposing someone's plans to take over the world with the meteors or another meteor freak, just like those you wrote about in your previous Torch articles," Clark quickly said. He could see the light dawning in his friend's dark green eyes.

                "You're right…" she nodded slowly, her eyes staring hard into the distance, out the loft. Suddenly, she sprang up from the couch and rushed to the window, pointing into the green fields. "Look! Did you see that?" she exclaimed, excited.

                "What?" Pete asked, getting up from his bale of straw and walking to Chloe's side.

                "There! In the forest… a green glow!" Chloe said.

                Clark looked out the wall, summoning his X-ray vision, and his heart skipped a beat.

                Chloe was right.

                Something at the edge of the forest was glowing a bright green. A bright, _meteor green._

**Author's Note: Oh no! More meteor freaks coming? Does this have anything to do with the murder of a certain Mr. Martin Spout? Well, we will only find out of Clark, Chloe and Pete decided to investigate this strange phenomenon. In the meantime, please review this chapter!    **


	5. Chapter Five

**Elixir**

_by Lener_

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville. 

**Chapter Five**

"Clark. Clark! CLARK!" Chloe's shout jolted him, and he snapped out of the X-Ray vision to look at the blond. "You won't be able to see the glow through the wall, Kent, unless you happen to have X-Ray eyes," Chloe said, oblivious of how close she'd hit to home. 

                Clark got up from where he was sitting, stuffed his hands into his pockets and settled for a polite but clueless, "You're right, what should we do now?" He knew the kind of answer he would be getting, but he never expected it to come from Pete. 

                "Well, we go check it out, man!" Pete said like it was so obvious, his pearly white grin almost blinding Clark. Chloe clapped a hand on Pete's back and said, "Now you're speaking my language!"

                Clark felt another stab of jealousy at his heart as he watched them silently. _Geez, Clark? What's your problem? _He said sternly to himself. Clark knew that Pete had had a crush on Chloe for a long time now, but something was holding his best friend back from making a move on Chloe. And now, secretly, Clark felt grateful for that 'something'.

                _Clark Kent, I don't know what has gotten into you but you better avoid this mess once and for all._

"Clark? Are you coming?" Chloe called. She and Pete were already on the stairs that led out of the loft.

                "Uh… yeah! Coming!" Clark nodded and quickly jogged after them. In a few quick strides, he managed to catch up with Chloe and Pete, who was walking along on Chloe's right. Clark took his usual place by her left, and they headed out to the fields where Chloe had seen the glow. 

*

                Chloe parted the bushes near to where the eerie green glow was coming from, and then peered through the leaves and branches to see what was going on. On her left, Clark shifted uneasily while Pete leaned forward curiously.

                "Someone… or some_thing_… is there," Chloe whispered. Pete pushed aside more branches so that now the patch of field hidden by the bushes was almost visible. All three of them peered in closer, and Chloe had to ignore the tingly feeling of Clark's breath on her skin. She urged herself to concentrate on the current situation instead.

                What met her eyes made her gasp- there was a large doorway of some sort hovering in the air, and it was glowing such a brilliant green that they could not tell whether it was a solid doorway or not.

                "Someone's coming!" Pete whispered, and sure enough a girl came walking out- right out from the doorway! Her figure seemed to mould out against the filmy green substance, and then she stepped out onto the real field calmly. The girl was holding a dagger, but it was not just any ordinary dagger- it was made completely out of meteorite.

                The girl, who looked about their age, muttered something while holding the dagger aloft, then turned around and disappeared into the night. Suddenly, Chloe felt herself being pulled to her feet. She instinctively grabbed Clark's hand, then closed her eyes as Pete pulled all of them through the doorway before it closed up, shutting out the picture of a serene Kent Farm.

*

                The moment Chloe took hold of his hand and thrust him into the strange doorway, he felt the veins under his skin shift. When his body crashed through the meteor doorway, Clark felt a sharp bolt of pain pierce his head- his stomach felt like it was melting from the inside and his knees gave way beneath him. A second later, Clark stumbled back onto solid ground, tripped over a stone, slammed into someone and tumbled head over heels. When he opened his eyes, breathing hard, he found himself face to face with Chloe. They were lying on the ground in a tangle of arms and legs.

                "Clark… you're squashing me…" Chloe groaned from under him. With a start, Clark realized that he no longer felt nauseas- in fact, he felt a little light headed. Did it have to do with the fact that he was actually lying on top of Chloe Sullivan?

                "Clark!" Chloe finally pushed him off.

                The sound of someone clearing his throat made Clark sit up. "Ahem, when you two are done rolling about in the grass, feel free to take a look at where we are," Pete said, looking a little peeved. _What do you expect- a hearty laugh? You were rolling around in the dirt with his crush who also happens to be your best friend. _

"Oh my goodness. We're standing on exactly the same spot," Chloe gaped as Clark stood up and dusted the bits of soil and dried leaves off his clothes. Indeed, the three of them were still on the field belonging to the Kents. It was as though they'd never left the field except for jumping through the air and landing on the grass.

                "Well, so much for an adventure," Pete remarked as they gazed around.

                "It's almost 12 noon… perhaps we'd better get back to the house for lunch," Clark broke through the silence. The others nodded and they trooped back up the field towards Clark's house. 

                _Strange… somehow some things look different here. Come to think of it, where's the fence that Dad just built a month along the field boundary? It should be right here but I don't see it anywhere. _Clark was about to voice his suspicion to Chloe and Pete when suddenly they heard his mother shout, "Clark! Lunchtime!"

                Clark opened his mouth to say 'We're coming!' but someone beat him to it.

                "Coming!" a voice that sounded exactly like his echoed through the house. Before he knew it, Chloe and Pete had their noses pressed up against the side window and were peering into the dining room. Clark ran towards them, and gasped in disbelief as he stared into the dining room. A younger version of himself had just entered the dining room, wearing a red sweater and jeans.

                There was a shocked silence, in which the young Clark kissed a younger looking Martha Kent with a cheerful 'Good afternoon'. 

                Pete pulled away from the window and slammed into Clark, stuttering. "O… ok… okay. You're out here…" he turned back to the window and looked at young Clark, then, "and you're in there."

                "I…" Clark shrugged, equally clueless.

                "We've gone back into time! We passed through the meteorite doorway which brought us to the year… I don't know… you look 13, Clark. That would make it… 1998! Hey… that's the year I came to Smallville!" Chloe exclaimed. 

                "Back into time??" Pete shrieked.

                "This can't be real," Clark agreed.

                "It _is _so real…" Chloe argued. She took a step forward and began shouting Clark's name. Clark took no notice of her, but continued to make cheerful conversation with Mrs. Kent. Chloe switched to Martha's name, but Clark's mother did not even flinch.

                "See? If this was the real world they would've heard me a long time ago, but they _don't_. Or _can't_. I tell you, we're invisible to them! They can't see us! We're in the past!" Chloe exclaimed. 

                "This is _so _weird," Pete muttered under his breath as young Clark pulled out a chair from the dining table and sat down. 

                "Say… why aren't you in school, Clark?" Chloe asked, frowning. 

                Clark's heart stopped beating for a moment. He'd never been sick before, considering who he was, and if he had skipped school 'today', the only reason would be because of his powers. Then he remembered- it was the week when he had discovered that he could travel at 60 miles at hour, way faster than the average human. When he had been younger, Clark had always thought he was just faster than other kids his age. But then the speed kicked in, and he knew that he was not… normal.

                Well, if he had super speed now, then he… would definitely be eating lunch at super speed!

                Heart thumping, Clark glanced over at his best friends. Pete was making faces at young Clark, and Chloe was taking in every detail with careful eyes. If both of them found out about his secret…

                He did the only thing possible.

                "The doorway! It's opened again!" he shouted, pointing back to the field. The occupants in his house took no notice of his  shout, but Chloe and Pete whirled around to look. In a flash, the young Clark wolfed down his lunch. 

                "Whoa!" Pete exclaimed when they turned back to look in the window. "Where did all the food go?" Chloe wondered.

                "Uh… shh… don't tell my mom but I used to get rid of some in the most unimaginable ways," Clark laughed nervously.

                Chloe grinned, "I can just imagine that."

                _Phew._

He was safe, for the moment. 

**Author's Note: Okay… so what's up with this time traveling thing? Does it have anything to do with the recent murder of Mr. Martin Spout? Will our three heroes find out and solve this mystery? Find out in the next chapter! Replies are below:**  

**Sylphide- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! Hey… I'm glad you liked the part about Lex getting Chloe off the hook! And yes, ****Clark****'s JEALOUS!! Woohoo!!! Lol… well, I hope you like this chapter! Do review and sorry for making you wait so long for this!**

**Starburst- Hey… sorry I made you wait a long time before I uploaded this, I've been pretty busy. Well, hope this next chapter satisfies your curiosity for the time being! **

**Calty- Hey! Thanks for the review! Oh, no Gabe Sullivan is not bad at all! He's Chloe's father… so I won't make him a bad dude! I hope you liked this chapter! Please review!**

 


	6. Chapter Six

**Elixir**

_by Lener_

__

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville. 

**Chapter Six**

****

**"What should we do now?" Chloe wondered.**

"First we should find out what exactly happened and how we are going to get out of the past," Clark spoke up. Pete just nodded mutely, so Chloe jerked her head in the direction of the Kent field. "Let's investigate, then," she said.

The field looked no different from the 'future' field, except for a few minor changes that Jonathan Kent would make in the future.

"Okay everyone saw a girl with a glowing dagger, made out of the meteor rocks, right? She said something, left, and a few seconds later this strange portal which she'd just walked out from closes. So it's obvious that this girl sort of 'controls' the doorway, right?" Chloe said, pacing around the grassy area. 

"Yea… sounds correct to me," Pete nodded.

"And I think that the girl is somehow connected to the murder of Mr. Martin Spout. She _could be the one who tried to frame me," Chloe continued._

"Chloe, it's not like you to jump to conclusions and accuse people without substantial evidence," Clark said, plucking a leaf from a twig and tearing it into pieces. Chloe felt surprised that Clark had used a reporter slash detective term. He usually did not throw himself into Wall of Weird cases such as this. There was one thing that surprised her, though.

"Clark… don't you recognize the girl and the weirdness of this situation?" she exclaimed, throwing up her hands in exasperation. Clark shrugged. She turned to Pete. "Pete?" she tried, but he shook his head.

"Come on! Don't tell me you don't know her! She's Sara Parkins!" 

"Sara Parkins? From junior high?" Clark and Pete both exclaimed, shocked.

"But she hasn't changed a bit!" Clark added.

"_That's the weird part, and I'm going to find out more about this," Chloe said grimly. _

"We've been sitting here for 4 hours! Won't anyone from our time realize we're gone? You're mom will probably have a fit, Clark," Pete chuckled. The three of them were lying on the field, waiting for Sara Parkins to open the portal- that is, if she was ever going to. "At this rate we'll never make it back," Clark groaned.

"Oooh… the lack of keys beneath my fingers is killing me…" Chloe said through gritted teeth.

"You can use the computer in my room," Clark offered, then smacked his head, "oh, no. Bad idea."

"No, wait!" Chloe jumped up, "if they can't see us, we'll be safe- and free to use the computer! It's a great idea!"

"But Clark- young Clark, I mean, will be in his room, and he'll see the computer turn on by itself! Pretty freaky, if you ask me," Pete pointed out, and Chloe sank back down in the grass, dejected.

"You're right. Darn, this stinks."

*

Clark reached out a hand to reassure Chloe, then stopped when he saw the veins under his skin turn green and shift uncomfortably. That could only mean one thing- the portal was going to open!

"Step back. Sara Parkins is trying to get to 1988," he said, and Chloe and Pete scrambled up from the ground. A second later the air before them shimmered, and suddenly the doorway of green was etched out plainly in the evening sky.

"We should stand back. We don't want her to know we've found out her little secret," Chloe said. Nodding, they quickly rushed behind a bush just as the green doorway suddenly exploded silently in the air. A tall girl stepped through, her light blond hair flying all about her face. She lifted the meteorite dagger and said a few words, then sped off into the night.

Chloe charged forwards at once, followed by Pete. Clark reassured himself that the pain of being in the doorway would only last a second, then he would tumble out into 2001. 

He leapt in after Pete, just as the doorway closed.

*

The moment Clark stepped into the Torch office; he caught sight of the top of Chloe's bent head from behind the computer screen. She was typing furiously on the keyboard, oblivious to the fact that he had entered the room. As Clark neared his best friend, he saw a look of total concentration on her face and had to smile. Chloe looked so cute when she did that.

"Clark!" her voice suddenly echoed throughout the office. Clark was immediately snapped out of his thoughts. He walked over to where Chloe was sitting and dumped his red backpack on the floor next to the computer table. 

"Hey Chlo… any new leads?" he asked, pulling a chair over to him and settling down next to her at the computer. The screen was filled with words, words and more words. Clark could see that Chloe had highlighted some of the text on the document. "What's this?" Clark asked.

"Well, it's very strange…" she said, being typically Chloe-like and launching straight into the information, "there's nothing- no information about this Mr. Martin Spout when he was a kid. I mean, I went to the Smallville Torch Archives where they have a list of the entire pupil enrolment of the school for the past years and his name is not there."

Clark frowned, "Well Chloe I hate to say this but maybe you're overreacting. Perhaps Mr. Spout moved to Smallville a few years ago and didn't attend Smallville High." He glanced at his friend, who looked deep in thought.

"That's not possible, Clark. I asked around with the people at the plant and some older folks who went to Smallville High and they all said that Mr. Spout was a true blue Smallville resident. He stayed in Smallville his whole life!" she argued.

"Well then maybe… maybe he changed his name?" Clark tried, but even as he said that, he knew that his friend would shoot his suggestion down like a dead duck.

"Hello? Clark, if he changed his name they wouldn't be calling him Martin Spout when he was born up till now! It's like his whole _childhood was erased…" Chloe's eyes got a faraway look, and Clark knew that she was trying to link this to some of her Wall of Weird theories. He gave an involuntary shiver. Mr. Martin Spout a meteor freak? Or killed by one? _

Just then the door to the Torch office opened and Pete came in carrying his backpack slung on his shoulder. "Hey guys… I had to see a teacher," he explained, "Did I miss anything?"

"We all did…" Chloe muttered, squinting at the screen.

"Huh?" Pete looked at Clark for help. Clark shrugged.

"The entire childhood of Mr. Martin Spout cannot be found on _any website to do with Smallville or LuthorCorp Plant. It's as if his childhood never existed. But his matured years can be found online… or at least, bits of information about them…" Chloe said, not taking her eyes off the screen._

"Well that sounds weird," Pete nodded.

"Definitely weird," Chloe agreed.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Clark asked, looking from Chloe to Pete and then back to Chloe again.

"_Something, definitely. I just don't know what…" Chloe trailed off._

*

The next day when the lunch bell rang Pete rushed off to one of the empty classrooms for a Chess club meeting while Chloe headed straight for her English teacher to discuss marks. Clark made it to the cafeteria and wolfed down a sandwich before he exited the crowded place. 

Already Smallville High students were swarming in for lunch, and he caught sight of Whitney and Lana sitting at a table at the far end of the cafeteria. Both of them had eyes only for each other, and Clark sighed. One day he hoped that Lana would actually see him.

Pete was still at his Chess club meeting, so Clark went off to look for Chloe, and he found her at the Torch office, no doubt investigating all about the mysterious disappearance of Mr. Martin Spout's youth. "Hey Chloe… aren't you hungry? You didn't go for lunch did you?" he asked, plopping down on the chair next to her.

"I have back-up…" she said, tapping a chocolate bar and pointing to a coffee mug without taking her eyes off the screen.

"So, how's the investigation?" Clark asked, leaning closer to read what was on the screen. As he did so he smelt the faint scent of mint lingering on her shiny blonde hair. 

_I never knew Chloe's shampoo smelt so nice._

_"Ugh… it's all just so strange. I can't seem to make head or tail out of anything!" Chloe suddenly burst out, slamming her hands on the keyboard. She picked up the chocolate bar and ripped off the wrapper in frustration, then took a bite to soothe her nerves._

"Hey, relax, Chlo! It's just a Wall of Weird mystery… don't get so worked up!" Clark placed a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off.

"Someone _died, Clark! You can't blame me if I happen to think that death is something very serious!" she argued._

"What's done is done, Chlo. There's was nothing you can do to stop him from getting killed," Clark pointed out.

"But I can find out what or who did it…" she replied in a small voice.

"Not while you're angry…" Clark smiled and reached out a hand to tickle her gently. Chloe bit her lip to keep from laughing, and playfully shoved his hand away. Clark grinned and used both hands to tickle her, and, squealing, Chloe began to laugh.

They were so engrossed in their tickle fest that they did not hear the door open.

"Umm… am I interrupting something?" Clark jumped away from Chloe guiltily, finding himself face to face with Lana Lang. The guilt grew from the size of a mustard seed to a mountain. 

"Oh, no. What are you doing in the Torch office, Lana?" Chloe quickly said, and Clark was grateful that she was the one to speak. He did not trust himself to say anything.

"I… err… left my English paper here while I was typing an article," she explained hastily, grabbed a sheaf of papers from a nearby table and practically dashed out of the office.

"I guess it's back to investigation then," Chloe sighed and began clicking away at the computer. 

Clark stared after Lana.

_Yep, it's time for investigation. But not about Mr. Spout… this time it's about how I feel about Lana. And how I think I feel about Chloe. _

__

**Author's Note: All right! Clark knows that he's feeling something for dear Chloe! And Chloe can't seem to solve this mystery about Mr. Martin Spout! A missing childhood? What's the deal here? Find out in later chapters! My replies are below! __**

****


	7. Chapter Seven

**Elixir**

_by Lener_

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville. 

**Chapter Seven**

Chloe went on typing, watching Clark from the corner of her eye. His gaze was still on the door that Lana had closed about 3 minutes ago. He seemed lost in thought, not even registering the fact that she had stopped typing now and was just observing him. _Hmm… probably thinking about Lana and regretting the fact that he had chosen that time to do a little best friend bonding with me. Now he probably thinks that he stands absolutely no chance with that girl. I wonder what she has that makes every guy who looks at her want her. _

"Chloe?" Clark's voice brought her out of her thinking process, and she realized (with bitter irony) that the tables had been turned. It was now Clark who had caught her staring at him. 

        "Yes?" she turned away quickly, then proceeded to resume typing a website address.

        "I…" 

        Chloe held her breath, but went on typing. 5 seconds later Clark had still not continued the sentence he had started.

        "You what, Clark?" she persisted impatiently.

        "Oh, nothing."

        _Darn Lana. _

*

"It happened when you were at home? Okay… okay… uh huh… tell me exactly what happened. What did you see and hear? And what time was it? What were you doing?" Chloe said into the receiver, trying hard to keep the excitement out of her voice. 

A quick look at the Smallville High School enrolment archives had told her that one of her good friends, Jessica Hunter, from the Computer Club, lived just next door to Mr. Martin Spout. Chloe had immediately called Jessica up the minute she had reached home, and after some idle chit chat, had cleverly directed their flow of conversation towards the murder of Mr. Spout.

"Well, I was in my room and I had the radio on, but not to full blast. Then I thought I heard something like glass breaking. I turned off the radio and went downstairs where my mom and dad were. It was already about 7 something. I…"

Chloe started as Jessica suddenly screamed into the receiver. There was a loud thud, and then the line went dead, but not before a strangely cold voice from the other end said, "I'm coming for you, Sullivan." A chill raced up Chloe's spine, and she slammed the phone down with shaking hands. Something had happened to her friend- and someone out there was trying to make her life a living hell in the process.

Without warning, Chloe grabbed her black leather coat and threw it over her clothes. Then she stalked out of the house to Jessica's house, halfway across town.

*

The pale moon hung suspended in the starry sky, like a rare diamond brooch on black brocade. All the other glittering stars lay greatly lessened in beauty.

Clark sat in the shadows of his loft, gazing out at the dark sky, deep in thought. In his mind he saw Lana, with her silky coffee brown hair and doe eyes, smiling up at him. A split second later the image was replaced with Chloe, her shiny blonde hair and expressive, deep green eyes. 

His mind whirled in confusion. He had always liked Lana- so when had these feelings for Chloe started? Something deep down inside him protested, and Clark knew he could no longer feign ignorance. He had always liked Chloe. Ever since she moved to Smallville he had been taken by her, and back then Lana had been nothing to him.

So now when had Lana ever appealed to him? Clark frowned and got up from the worn couch, walked towards his telescope and moved it so that he could look at Lana's house. She was on the porch, sitting on the ledge with a pink shawl wrapped around her shoulders. In her hands was a paperback, and she seemed engrossed in whatever she was reading.

Clark stared for about a few minutes, and then realized that the sight of her brought to joy or elation to him. He felt completely normal. He felt… nothing.

He brought the telescope away from Lana's house, and just then a moving object caught his eye. He squinted into the lens, and could just make out a billowing black coat and light blonde hair…

"Chloe?" Clark said.

At that moment the figure turned her head, as if sensing that someone far away was watching her. Clark caught a glimpse of her face, but it was enough to tell him that he knew who the person was. His heart missed a beat as his eyes locked into hers. It was, indeed, his best friend, and the expression she had on her face was one of fear and yet determination. He had seen it on her before, but never this strongly. Something had happened.

In a flash, Clark was gone from the loft. 

*

Chloe stopped in her tracks, turned around and stared into pitch darkness. "Who's there?" she called out, but received no answer. _Strange… I felt as though someone was watching me, she thought. Abandoning her suspicions, she took a step forward, but stopped again when there came a rustling sound from behind her._

"Who's there?" she called out, louder and fiercer this time. A figure emerged from the shadows of the bushes, and Chloe took a step back, afraid that it would be the person whose voice she had heard over the phone earlier.

"Chloe?" a familiar voice rang in her ears. It hardly seemed hostile- it was more of concerned, actually. The figure stepped out of the cover of darkness and into the faint moonlight, and Chloe recognized the dark curly hair and shape of a strong jaw.

"_Clark?!" she exclaimed._

"What are you doing out here by yourself in the middle of the night?" Clark asked.

"I should be asking you that question too, you know," she retorted, placing her hands on her hips. Secretly she was glad that it had not been the strange murderer, and also glad that Clark was there with her.

"Well, I was looking through my telescope- night gazing, you know, and I guess it sort of radar-ed in on you," Clark scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. Chloe raised her eyebrow, but said nothing. "And you?" Clark asked. She quickly related the phone conversation she had had with Jessica. 

"So you're going to go to her house now? At this time of the night?" Clark looked at her as though she'd gone permanently insane. "I don't have much of a choice, do I? That voice sounded awfully familiar, and besides, I want to get to the bottom of this mystery so I can live my life in peace. Anyway, this is a Chloe certified Wall of Weird mystery, and I can never rest until I solve it," she stated matter-of-factly.

They had begun walking together and for a while neither of them spoke, enjoying the comfortable silence.

"You sure you're mom won't kill you for leaving the house like that?" Chloe decided to ask.

"I'm sure she'll under…" Clark suddenly stopped short, and Chloe turned her head in the direction which Clark was gaping at.

"Oh… my… god…" the words escaped her lips as a mere breath, and it was then that she became aware of the noise and commotion about them. There were Smallville police cars parked outside Jessica Hunter's house, and an ambulance wailed forlornly into the dark night. Bright lights from torch lights and headlights glared about like intruders, and the noise of anxious talk was ceaseless.

"What happened?" Clark gasped. 

**Author's Note: Ahh… chapter 7 is done! Quite exciting, I must say. The action scenes start to come in here and the next chapter! DO read and review! I would like to apologize to all readers for not updating for a very, very long time! I hope you accept this apology, and I had absolutely no time to write replies to the reviewers, that's why the replies were missing!!! Now that I have a little muse and inspiration back, it's time to make good use of that!**

**Sylphide- Thanks for reviewing! Oh, sorry I didn't reply, but I'm glad you said that you didn't need a reply to review! *feels touched* Anyway, I'm glad you liked the previous chapter. Hope you liked this one! Hahaha… I'm glad that you don't think the Chlark tickling scene and shampoo one was stupid! Well, can't wait to hear from you!**

**Calty- Hahaha! Thanks for your review! It was hilarious (as always). I don't know… is there a great big Chlarky scene in this chapter? I don't think so… nevertheless, the story is finishing (yay and boo) so there WILL be a major Chlarky scene coming up soon! Don't miss it! **

**Starburst- Well, I updated! (Lol… thanks for the review!)**

**Arekanderu- Hey… thanks for the review. Well, they found her fingerprints at the scene of the crime and took her in for questioning but Lex and ****Clark**** and Pete came with her alibi… and so the Smallville police could not arrest her as she was innocent. So that's it… this can be found in Chapter Four! **


	8. Chapter Eight

**Elixir**

_by Lener_

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville. 

**Chapter Eight**

"I don't know…" came the equally clueless answer from the girl at his side. Clark looked at Chloe, and saw that her face had drained of all colour, and she was considerably shaken. He turned his gaze back to the house and saw what had caused her reaction. Paramedics were carrying a stretcher out of the doorway of the house, and on the stretcher lay a body that had been covered up with white cloth.

Beside the door stood Mr. and Mrs. Hunter, with the latter sobbing on her husband's shoulder.

"Jessica…" Chloe whispered. 

And then suddenly Chloe was in his arms, her chest heaving with great sobs that seemed to rip at Clark's own heart. All he could do was to pat her on the back gently and say that everything would be all right, even though he knew it was a lie.

Who was this mysterious, vicious murderer?

Why was he or she out to make his best friend's life a living hell?

Clark closed his eyes and tried to control the powerful surge of anger rising in his chest, but he only managed to stop himself from taking it out physically. He would never let anyone hurt his best friend, and seeing her like that now; so fragile and easily broken- it hurt him too. 

"This person... she's trying to… kill all of my friends and the people I know… one by one… oh… how I hate her! But I'm… I'm scared she'll hurt you too, Clark," Chloe said in between her tears. 

"Don't worry, Chloe, I won't let anyone hurt you or me, or any of the people whom you know. I promise," Clark said. He used his thumb to wipe away the tears from her face gently.

Suddenly a strange feeling crept over him, feeling the pit of his stomach with dread. His knees began to wobble unsteadily, and his head began to throb with a familiar pain he knew well. Then without warning a burst of green appeared from behind Chloe, and a hand reached out. Clark watched, doubled over, as his best friend was pulled into the meteor portal.

"No!" he tried to step forward, but something was keeping him from getting too close to the portal. The pain in his head was agonizing; it seemed as though a thousand people were shouting at the top of their voices at him.

Then summoning all his strength, Clark lunged right into the portal just as it closed.

*

Chloe felt the breath leave her as someone slammed her down onto the grassy ground. They were at the edge of the woods opposite Jessica Hunter's house, but some things looked different. For instance, the house that Chloe now saw was a bright cheery yellow instead of the cool azure blue house they had seen just seconds ago, with paramedics and police swarming the place.

The house was quiet, and there were a few odd differences like where the fence stretched until, and the shape of the mailbox.

_Ouch… I'm aching all over… what happened? _Then she recalled someone pulling her into the portal before it closed. She must have gone back into time! Where was this mysterious stranger? Could it be the person who was after her? Had Clark been pulled into the portal? Or had it closed up after she had been pulled in? These questions raced through her head. 

Chloe scrambled to her feet, and found herself face to face with a girl. The girl was a few inches shorter than her, and had long, straight blond hair that fell to her waist. Icy blue eyes locked onto Chloe's green ones, and she felt a sudden bolt of recognition.

"Sara…" Chloe whispered.

"Chloe," the girl said.

Just then, Clark came tumbling out from the portal, agony written all over his features. Chloe backed away from the girl, who still had her steely gazed pinned on her. "Clark… you okay?" she reached out a hand and Clark grasped hold of it, pulling himself to his feet. Behind them the portal closed, and suddenly Clark seemed himself again, the look of pain immediately erased.

"Sara?" Clark gasped.

"Clark…" the girl's eyes narrowed.

Chloe decided to come right out with her questions- she was not one to beat around the bush. "Which year are we in?" she asked.

Surprised flickered across Sara's eyes, but in a flash it was gone and replaced with a cool smile. "Oh, so you know about my special portal, then?" she asked, her voice not wavering. 

"We've done some investigating," Chloe shrugged, trying to keep her answer vague. Beside her she could feel Clark stiffen. _Who can blame him? This is definitely Wall of Weird material… seeing someone who hasn't aged in years… _Chloe studied Sara's face closely.

"Investigating, huh? You're still that nosey little writer you first were when I met you…" Sara sneered. Chloe saw her hand moving to her back. Remembering the dagger that Sara had been holding the first time they saw her, she felt a rush of anxiety flood through her. This was _her _fight, not Clark's… she could not put him in harm's way like this.

"This is between you and me, Sara. If you want to stay on the nasty side of this, I suggest we do it someplace else. I don't people to be hurt unnecessarily," Chloe said.

"Enough people have been hurt, Chloe. One more wouldn't make a difference… besides, your friend's pretty cute," Chloe felt jealousy and anger well up inside her as Sara sauntered over to Clark and began to circle him, her face leaning in close to his.

*

Clark felt the small sharp pain in his chest as Sara neared him. There was that familiar pain that haunted him whenever he came near to the meteor rocks. He cringed as she encircled him. 

"What are you doing to him?" Chloe cried, her voice sounding worried. Despite the situation, Clark felt a little lighthearted- she sounded as though she really cared about him. _Of course, she's your best friend, Kent. _

"Hmm… you look familiar… I must have seen you before… what's your name?" Sara asked. Clark felt surprised. Apparently her sustained youth had not affected her memory. Sara Parkins had met Clark, Chloe and Pete when she was 15 (their present age), and when _they _were only 13. By right she should have been older than them now, but somehow she had managed to remain 15, although her memory had "aged" 2 years.

"I'm Clark Kent, don't you remember me?" Clark decided to play cool. 

Sara's face immediately darkened.

"Clark Kent… and Chloe Sullivan. Ahh, yes the students who stole my spot on the editing committee for the school newspaper…" she said bitterly, and drew out her dagger. Clark felt his knees give way, and had it not been for Chloe, who rushed to his aid, he would have fallen to the ground.

"Clark!" Chloe exclaimed, and grabbed both his arms.

"'Fraid of knives, Kent?" Sara was smug.

Clark glared at her.

"Don't worry… it'll be all over soon…" and with that, she drove the dagger straight at Clark's chest.

A second later Clark found himself flying through the air. His head hit the trunk of a tree, and a dozen neon green fireworks exploded across his vision. There was a scream from Chloe, and then he blacked out. 

**Author's Note: AAAAHHHH!!! What happened to poor ****Clark****? Find out in the next chapter! Meanwhile, replies are below!!    **

**Sylphide- Hey! Thanks for the review! I can always count on you. Readers for this story seem to be diminishing, and that saddens me. Don't worry, I've thought of something really cool for this story, but of course I can't tell anyone yet!! I hope this chapter answers some of your questions! Well, until your next review!!!! LOL!**

**Arekanderu- Hello, and thank you for pointing out that mistake. Yes, people I made a mistake… I don't usually write arrest scenes so I completely forgot the part where they had to have a database of previously arrested criminals before they can identify the fingerprints. Darn. Oh well, apologies to everyone… shall we leave it as a big loophole in the story?**

**Aimee- Yo! Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you support Chlark, and do continue to read the story! **


	9. Chapter Nine

**Elixir**

_by Lener_

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville. 

**Chapter Nine**

        "Clark!!!!!" Chloe screamed, but before she could rush to help him, Sara thrust the meteor dagger at her, and Chloe jumped back. "Move one step towards him and I'll kill him…" Sara threatened.

        "Leave him alone… it's me you want, right?" Chloe gulped. 

        "Smart, Sullivan, very smart," Sara brought the dagger to Chloe's neck in one quick movement, then pushed her forward. "Now walk, and if you make any sudden moves, you're dead."

        As she started walking, Chloe gave one last glance back at the inert form of Clark, and felt a stab of fear and guilt pierce her through. Clark had always been the one who rescued her when she got in trouble (which had been a lot of times)- what would she do without him? _I'm sorry, __Clark__, she tried to say, but the words choked in her mouth. Sara gave her another warning push, and they both set off into the woods._

*

        _Clark tried to open his eyes, but it was as though someone had glued them tight- they seemed shut forever. Well, either that or he did not want to open his eyes. _

        All I want to do is lie here forever, he thought. Where was he anyway? There was darkness all around, and silence reigned in this unknown land. A vague, faraway throb in the distance echoed in time with his frantic heartbeats. 

        The far-off throbbing seemed to bring to mind a mental image of a pile of glowing green rocks. The meteor rocks! The dagger that Sara had used to stab him was made out of the meteor, right? So it did not surprise Clark that he had not been stabbed by it (there was no excruciatingly painful areas in his chest). Instead, he was rather astonished that the dagger had not broken into pieces.

        Perhaps because it's made out of the meteor rocks… Clark thought. His legs were heavy, like lead, and his arms felt like they were straw-stuffed sacks of cloth. His chest rose and fell erratically with each difficult breath of air. His head swam in circles, like he was coming out of a deep sleep…

        Clark opened his eyes.

        The night was dark, the moon casting little light on the woody area he was in. He noticed the empty clearing and the traces of trampled grass still wet with night dew leading into the woods, and uttered the first that thing came to mind.

        "Chloe."

*

        A cry of protest escaped Chloe's lips as Sara pushed her against the rough bark of a tree and whipped out a coil of coarse rope at the same time.

        "What do you want," Chloe choked.

        "Don't pretend to be innocent, Sullivan. You know I've always hated you," Sara spat. She unwound the rope and advanced towards Chloe.

        "Way to be subtle…" Chloe muttered under her breath, but unfortunately Sara caught what she had said, and snarled menacingly.

        "You won't have much wit or sarcasm left in you after tonight, Sullivan. In fact, there won't be anything left of you when I'm through," Sara threatened.

        Chloe chose that exact moment to leap at Sara and throw her to the ground. A second later both of them were rolling on the grass, Sara struggling with her dagger and rope, while Chloe struggled to keep the dagger and rope away from her.

        Unfortunately Sara was much bigger in size, and within a few minutes Chloe had been tied to the trunk of the tree, her hands bounded and raised above her head.

        "Why are you doing this?" she said through clenched teeth. 

        Sara smiled a mirthless smile and ran a finger carefully over the edge of the dagger blade. "Do you remember the time Smallville High recruited members for the Editing Committee of the Torch?" she said casually.

        Chloe gave an outburst, "That was more than two years ago! I can't believe you'd harbor grudges like this!"

        Sara brought the blade to Chloe's neck. "I was made- no, born for the post of Chief Editor. Besides, I was older than you- I had more experience. But somehow you got chosen instead, and now you're going to pay."

        "You can't kill me, Sara. My father will know I'm missing- he'll call the police and they'll send out a search party to look for you and me. When they find you'll they charge you with murder and then it'll be all over," Chloe bit her lip as Sara withdrew the knife with a chuckle. 

        "That's where you're wrong, Sullivan. We're in the past. If I kill you here and now, you're entire childhood- your whole youth will be wiped out from the future. You know what that means? It means that Chloe Sullivan will cease to exist; no one will remember you, the intrepid reporter for the Smallville Torch… pretty neat, huh?" she added, seeing the look of horror on Chloe's face.

        Chloe struggled with the ropes, but they were wound round her too tightly. So that's why I couldn't find anything about Martin Spout… any trace of him had been totally wiped out… she realized with dawning terror. Was this what was going to happen to her?

        "It's how I killed so many people, you know," Sara continued, grinning insanely, "and sucked their youth into my soul. That's why I've managed to stay so young."

        Oh, I'm going to be sick to the core… Chloe closed her eyes, and then opened them. There was one question nagging her.

        "Well, if you just wanted to take your revenge on me, you could have killed my former self instead of murdering all those people like you did," Chloe argued, trying to stall for time. Part of her desperately wished that Clark had not been stabbed, and that he would come to her rescue. But he was just a human after all- most of the time he'd been at the right place at the right time, but now it seemed that all hope was gone.

        "Ahhh… well you see, I figured there wasn't much fun in just killing your past self. I want you to suffer a little. Besides, killing all the other people made such a lovely little story. I knew our nosey reporter couldn't help but feel the need to investigate," Sara took a step forward, and the knife gleamed under the night sky.

        Chloe strained frantically against the ropes, feeling the hair stand up at the back of her neck.

        "But enough talk for now… let's let me take my revenge, shall we?" Sara smiled.

        This was it, her last moments.

        Her life was going to end with her tied to a tree; death at the hands of a rival, someone she did not even hate or dislike. The worst part was that no one would know this- no one would remember her.

        "I think I'll start with a reporter's most precious body organ… the hands. Then maybe we could go up to the eyes…" Sara muttered, leaning closer.

        Chloe felt the tears stinging the back of her eyes, but she would not let them fall. She thought of her father, and of Pete, and Clark. I never got the chance to say goodbye to them. I never got the chance to tell Clark how I really feel about him. 

        "Any last words?" Sara asked.

        Anger and hatred welled in Chloe's chest.

        "Yea, go to hell," she spat out.

        A second later Sara drove the dagger into her outstretched palm, and she screamed as something like an electric current raced through her body, her hands glowing an eerie neon green.

*

        Once the scream pierced through the night air, Clark bolted up from his horizontal position on the forest floor.

        "Chloe!" he shouted.

**Author's Note: Ahhh… the suspense. Ouch! Poor Chloe… her hand's gotta hurt! Anyway, I've come up with a really interesting concept for my next Smallville fanfic! So do keep reading this fic to find out what it is! Once again, thanks to all who reviewed the previous chapter. My replies are below! **

**Sylphide- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! Ahh… finally finished Elixir and am working on the next (interesting concept) thingy whether readers like it or not! It's going to be Chlark, of course. I never write anything else. Lol… nah I wouldn't say this story rocks! I haven't spent as much time on it as I did Kaleidoscope, but I think I have a little more interest in the next story now! Anyway, do keep reading!**

**Suz- Hey!! Where've you been? I haven't seen you since… Chapter 2!!!! Oh don't worry… I'm not upset about reviews… it's just that I thought nobody was reading my story anymore… lol! Well, I'm glad you stopped by to prove me wrong! Haha… I've never really spotted any big loopholes in the real show! Yes, don't worry, I'll update soon! You just keep reading!**

**Starburst- Yo! Thanks for the review! It's all right… I'm just glad that you're still reading this story! It would be a shame if everyone were to abandon reading it halfway. I'd feel totally sucky. Hahaha. You know, I always try to put a cliffhanger or a suspense-filled part at the end of every chapter! Haha, thought you ought to know! Thanks for reviewing! **

**sully vann- Hey! Thanks for the review! Glad you like this story!**

**Calty- Yo you!!!! I thought you weren't reading this story anymore! Oh well, I guess I'm also to blame for not updating regularly, huh? Sorry to everyone! Oh you won't see more chapters because it's going to END! But don't worry… I'm sure everyone will think the next concept's interesting… I hope! HAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!! The joke was hilarious! I'm gonna tell it to all my friends! Thanks for reviewing!!!!!!!**


	10. Chapter Ten

**Elixir**

_by Lener_

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville. 

**Chapter Ten**

        ** The pain coursed through her veins, something she'd never experienced before. A new and yet strangely exotic agony pierced her hands, and Chloe squeezed her eyes shut so hard that tears were forced out. Sara ripped out the knife, and another explosion of pain burst out like a bomb of fire in her brain. Fireworks exploded across her vision, and Chloe cringed, totally helpless, as Sara raised the knife to stab again…**

*

        Clark got up from the ground and, with all his might, ran to where he'd heard Chloe's scream. When he was a short distance from the place, he stopped superspeed and instead slowed down into a fast run to where she was.

        He scrabbled through thicket and pushed aside thorns that got in his way, and then saw the large tree, Sara leaning over Chloe, tied to the tree… Sara holding the dagger. Without thinking, he leapt forward and grabbed Sara's wrist, pulling her away from Chloe.

        She let out an anguished cry and wrestled strongly. Clark felt his strength lessen as Sara brought the glowing dagger close to him. The meteor rocks! It would surely zap his strength away if he didn't get it away from him! With one last push Clark sent Sara sprawling into the bushes a few metres away. With her out of the way for the moment, he sprang towards Chloe and began to untie the ropes binding her to the tree, speaking to her as he did so.

        "Chloe, Chloe! Are you all right?" he cried, shaking her shoulders gently. She looked like she was going to pass out from the pain, and indeed, her hands looked terrible. A mixture of blood and sticky green meteor liquid coursed down her scratched palms from the deep wound that the dagger had left.

        "Clark… you finally made it on time," she managed some of her Chloe Sarcasm even in her state. Clark could not help but smile. She would always be like that.

        "Come on," he said, almost done with the ropes, "we're going to get out of…"

        "Clark!" Chloe's voice was sudden and curt, "Behind you!" 

            But before Clark had time to react, he felt that familiar nausea creep over him, and then something slammed into the back of his head, knocking him sideways onto the dirt.

        Clark saw no more.

*

        Chloe screamed as Sara used the butt of the dagger to hit Clark in the back of his head. He slumped to the ground, unconscious, but Sara cared not for him. She needed to finish up what she came for- her revenge on Chloe. 

        "Now, I've had enough of your hands… they're probably useless now anyway, you'll never be able to write again. Now for the next most important thing… your eyes…" Sara brought the dagger to Chloe's face, and Chloe tried to turn away, but Sara brought her hand up and held her face straight. 

        The dagger seemed to be emitting some sort of radiation, which hit her straight in the eye and seemed to blind her. The pain was just as intense as the pain she'd felt when the dagger had been stabbed into her hands. 

But that was not what Sara wanted… Sara wanted to drive the dagger straight into her eyes. Rage welled up in Chloe's chest. Was she going to die like that, helpless and at the mercy of someone who had had a grudge on her 2 years ago? She was not going to go down like that. Besides, her ropes were loosened and even if her hands were seized with pain and her eyes blinded, she could still put up a fight.

        With a loud cry Chloe broke free from the ropes and used the trunk to support her back as she gave a fierce kick at Sara's stomach. Sara went flying into the nearby bushes, and Chloe seized the chance to pull free from her bonds, her hands hurting with every touch of the ropes. She pushed the pain to the back of her mind, determined to win the fight and get Clark and her out of there was soon as possible.

        Sara was up in a second- Chloe had not thrown her back as hard as Clark had done. She came charging at Chloe with the dagger, and Chloe felt her eyes welling up with tears from the stinging sensation of the radiation.

        Chloe darted out of the way as Sara lunged, and the girl hit the trunk with a sickening crack. She turned around, ready to pounce again, but Chloe pinned her to the trunk with both hands, ignoring the wounds and the blood streaming down. All that mattered was saving herself and Clark, and stopping Sara from doing any more harm.

        "This is your last chance, Sara… give yourself up or…" before Chloe could finish her sentence, Sara kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying into the middle of some bushes. Chloe scrambled to get up, the pain in her hands and her eyes unbearable. 

        Sara chuckled evilly, tapping the dagger against the trunk of the tree. She took a step forward, and Chloe took a step back. 

        "It's all over, Sullivan. You're going down… I'm going to…" before Sara could finish her words there was a loud CRACK and both of the girls instinctively looked up. Chloe saw the branch that had broken off- a large thick segment of the tree Sara was standing under.

        "Sara… watch out!" Chloe lunged forward to try to get the girl out of the way but it was too late. The branch plunged downwards, raining twigs and leaves on both girls and with a sickening crack it fell on top of Sara. Her meteor dagger flew from her hands and landed on a pile of leaves, its glow lessening. 

        Chloe looked away, feeling sick.

        "I'm sorry…" she whispered. 

        Chloe stood under the tree for a while, taking in the sounds of the night. The wind coursed her clammy cheeks and the pain in her hands seemed to go down. The tears that welled in her eyes made everything seem a vast, blurry green smudge. Then something jolted her back to reality- perhaps it was the small cry from Clark. Chloe rushed to his side and shook his shoulders as hard as her hands would allow her to.

        "Clark!!! CLARK!!!" she cried out. 

        He did not answer.

        "I have to get us out of there…" Chloe muttered, looking around. Her eyes caught sight of the dagger and she rushed to snatch it up, scrutinizing it for any sign of some engraved words. There they were, along the edge of the blade. She lifted Clark up, wincing at his weight and the pain, then said the words that were carved on the knife.

        "Through space and time

         Return me now

         I wish to find

         The way through thou."

        And the green portal burst in front of her immediately. Gathering up her courage, Chloe stumbled and staggered towards the portal, dragging the unconscious Clark after her, then she lunged into the portal. 

        Seconds later both of them tumbled out of the green doorway onto hard soil, breathing heavily. 

        "May no one ever find this dagger…" Chloe whispered. She raised the dagger above her head and with one smooth motion, threw it into the portal. There was a burst of blinding green light, and then everything was gone. The portal had disappeared. The knife was lost.

        "Chloe?" she turned to gaze at Clark, who was sitting up and looking at her. 

**Author's Note: This is the second last chapter, so watch out for the surprise at the end of the last chapter!!!!!!!! **  

**Suz- Hey! Thanks for the review! I hope you were satisfied with this update… most of the action is over but the best part is still to come! Lolx!**

**Sylphide- Yo! Thanks for reviewing the previous chapter! Well, as you can see, Chloe's not dead (yay) and neither is ****Clark****. They made it! What's gonna happen next? Only the next chapter can tell you. *grinZ***


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Elixir**

_by_ Lener__

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville. 

**Chapter Eleven**

         "Clark!!" Chloe exclaimed. In a flash she was up on his feet, and pulling her up from the ground.

        "Your hands! Oh my goodness, Chloe… they're bleeding and… and there's meteor in them! And your eyes… what happened after Sara… I'm so sorry, I should've tried harder… I'm sorry I couldn't…" Clark began to ramble on and on while he grasped her hands, but all Chloe could think of was how she wanted a good bath, some ointment on her hands and a great sleep- not forgetting how warm Clark's hands felt on hers. 

        "It's not your fault, Clark! You were knocked out by the handle of a dagger. I'm surprised you even managed to get up!" Chloe put in, trying to insert her words in between his.

        "What about the dagger? And Sara?" Clark asked.

        "She's dead. A branch fell on her. I threw the dagger back into the portal and it exploded. I guess it's all over now," Chloe looked away, feeling the tears coming back. She did not want to cry- the tears would only make her eyes hurt.

        Sensing her discomfort, Clark took her by the shoulders and led her away. "Come on, let's go to my place and clear you up. Tomorrow's the weekend, I'm sure you can give your dad a call and if it's too late, you can sleep in my room and I'll sleep in the loft. My parents won't mind," Clark said.

        Chloe allowed herself to be led off by her best friend.

*

        I wish I could superspeed her back home right now, but then I'd be giving away my secret. Her hands don't look good… meteor liquid in the wounds. Who knows? It might even seep into her blood stream and cause some terrible effects. What if I can't get close to her anymore, because of the meteor? And her eyes… they look strangely lighter… almost like the meteor green from some angles…

        Clark was so absorbed in her thoughts that he'd hardly notice that they had reached his place. 

        "Clark? Uh… we're here so, are you going to just keep walking straight or go up the stairs?" Chloe joked weakly.

        "Oh, right," Clark gave a start, and helped her up the stairs. From inside he could see his parents scrambling up from chairs and rushing to the door.

        "Clark!" his mother exclaimed as she opened the screen door. "What happened?" Her eyes caught sight of Chloe's hands and she brought a hand to her chest.

        "Your typical Wall of Weird mystery, Mrs. Kent," Chloe chuckled weakly.

        "We found out who the murderer is, Mom… it had to do with meteor rocks and all that… time traveling portals if you'd believe me," Clark said, looking meaningfully at his mother, who nodded vigorously. From behind her, his father looked at Chloe's hands and said, "Better get those cleaned up- they look terribly."

        "I'll handle it, Mom, Dad," Clark said to them.

        "Are you sure?" his mother seemed worried.

        "Very," Clark was already leading Chloe in the direction of the loft.

        "We'll talk afterwards!" his father added as they vanished out of sight.

        "Your parents seemed angry," Chloe said to him.

        They were now sitting in the loft. Clark had washed her hands and found out that the wound was not so deep after all. Somehow their time travel through the years must have done something to it… or the meteors could have done something to it. So he washed Chloe's hands with running water and was now applying ointment. The bandages were next to him on the couch.

        "They're just worried, it's okay," Clark said.

        "Sorry to cause so much trouble," Chloe said earnestly.

        "It's not like you to apologize much, Chlo," Clark joked, then seeing her straight face added, "Besides, you're our intrepid girl reporter- you like to cause trouble, believe it or not."

        The gleam vanished from Chloe's green eyes, and she looked down. "Am I that bad?" she asked softly.

        "Oh, c'mon, Chloe…" but there was nothing more he could say. Seeing her look so hurt made him feel guilty somehow. He felt compelled to protect her… to make her happy. But somehow he could never succeed in doing that. Somehow Chloe always seemed unhappy when he was around.

        "You're not that bad. You're not bad at all. In fact, if it weren't for you, many people would've died from all those Wall of Weird mysteries. You've dedicated yourself entirely to them, Chloe, and I think that's really wonderful of you, even if no one else might think that. Even though some people might be jealous of you or think that you're strange, I won't, and I'll always be there for you to support you in whatever you do, because you've brought so much good to Smallville, and into my life as well. You've risked your life so many times to solve those mysteries when you could have just sat back and ignored them. But you wanted to help those people, and you did in the end. And that's what makes you wonderful. You don't cause much trouble," Clark blurted out, and indeed, as he said everything, he felt as though he had stirred up something deep inside himself. He knew he believed those words.

        And there was Chloe's face, staring up at his in a mixture of bemusement and rapture. The moonlight from the loft window fell onto her hair, making it gleam golden. Her smile was infectious- it spread to all corners of her face, and he couldn't help smiling too. Only Chloe could do that to him. And her eyes- when they stared deep into his, he felt as though she could see his soul.

*

        He's staring at me and I'm staring at him. This would be a perfect moment to kiss but he's in love with Lana. I won't push it.

        Chloe let out a deep breath and smiled again.

        "My hands, Clark," she prompted, jolting him out of his stare. Clark flushed (How cute… he's so gorgeous), and brought out the bandages from behind him.

*

        Concentrate on her hands, Clark… her hands… They're pretty smooth… not callous at all. And her nails are perfectly manicured…

Okay then, just concentrate on the bandage.

        But there was something he could not ignore.

"Chloe?" he decided to ask.

        "Yea, Clark?" she answered softly, staring deep into his eyes.

                "You know when you want something so bad, and then when you have it, it kinda makes you wonder why you wanted it in the first place?" He watched as she thought about what he'd just said. He wondered if she knew that he was talking about Lana. Though he didn't exactly _have her yet, he was beginning to feel that he didn't want her anymore._

                Finally Chloe smiled up at him and said, "Not with you."

                The rising elation in Clark's chest burst out of him with fireworks, and he pulled his best friend closer to him, kissing her squarely on the lips. She tasted sweet, like a thousand summer strawberries and yet spicy too, like soft cinnamon. 

                She pulled away, grinning up at him.

                "See? _Not with you_." 

**Author's Note: Well, that's the end of another Chlark story but wait a minute before you GO. Want to find out what happens when the meteor essence in Chloe's hands and eyes start to have an effect on her? Find out in the sequel to 'Elixir', 'Premonition'! Replies are below…**

**Sylphide****- Hey! Sigh… I recently had a bought of the deadly "I don't want to be a writer" syndrome and I think it has kicked in. I officially have that disease. Oh well, I guess I'll just continue updating my other stories when I feel like it! Luckily I already had this chapter written out! Well, I hope you liked the ending… it's not really an ending coz there's still the sequel! Do read the sequel, although it might take a while to update! Well, thanks for reviewing this story faithfully! I really appreciate that.**

**Starburst- Hope this was a good enough chapter for you! Thanks for following this fic through all the way!**

**sailorcardcaptor****- Well, it's finished! Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for the review!**

**violentdelight**-**** Hi! Thanks for the review! Well, hoped you liked the ending!****

**Tigerfanfrv****- I'm sorry she was merely brought in for questioning. I used the Wrong Word in that chapter. Please forgive me! I'm glad you think the story is cool… here's the last chapter! Thanks for the reviews and hope you enjoyed this. **


End file.
